Culture Minister: LeRoy Clarke changing Trinidad art

The book was formally launched by the minister on Thursday at the National Library. She said, "Any thorough survey of art in Trinidad and Tobago would reveal a very strong influence from LeRoy Clarke. "There is little doubt that his work has served to reformulate the aesthetics of art in Trinidad and hence the reason my ministry had no hesitation in bestowing on him the title of ‘Master Artiste’ in the museum’s series of retrospectives."

Yuille-Williams remembered two earlier works of poems by Clarke — "Douens" in 1981 and "Taste of Endless Fruit" in 1992 — stating that she had been fascinated by his magnificent canvases. She said all who would have seen his paintings would be impressed and intrigued by his well executed complex and sometimes disturbing images.

Of the book, the minister said Clarke’s attention to poetry and the publication of the book is testament to his contribution to the tangible heritage and also to the tangible cultural heritage of this country, and she commended Clarke highly for it.

"Collectors of this book will have much more than what is expected in a book of poems. The book is enriched with reproductions of Clarke’s masterpieces and therefore is no ordinary book of poems," she said.